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The Kerry campaign said it filed the complaint against the group behind the ads, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, "for violating the law with inaccurate ads that are illegally coordinated with the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign and Republican National Committee."

The campaign said there is "overwhelming evidence" that the group is coordinating its spending on advertising and other activities with the President George W. Bush's campaign for reelection.

Bush and a top adviser have long-standing ties to people behind the advertisements, which claim Kerry lied about his Vietnam War service record, but the campaign denies any part in the ads themselves.

The White House has declined to specifically condemn the Swift Boat commercials. It has instead challenged Kerry to join Bush in calling for an end to all ads funded by unrestricted donations, including those questioning Bush's service in the United States in the National Guard during the Vietnam War.

Attacks on Kerry's war record may be beginning to have an impact, polls suggest, amid raised voices and new TV ads on a subject at least temporarily dominating debate in the close presidential race.

Democrats are laboring to deflect the questioning of Kerry's record with fresh ads touting his fitness for national command, even as the White House mocks the Massachusetts senator as "losing his cool'' over claims he lied to win military medals in Vietnam.

Kerry wasn't going to let such claims pass, spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter shot back on Friday, saying "John Kerry is a fighter and he doesn't tolerate lies from others.''

The anti-Kerry group that provoked the furor with a recent commercial distributed a second ad to the news media and said it would begin airing it next week in Pennsylvania, Nevada and New Mexico. The ad mixes clips of a youthful Kerry talking about war atrocities in testimony to Congress in 1971 with images of veterans condemning his remarks.

The intense late-August back-and-forth underscored the closeness of the race for the White House and came as polls offered the first hint that the questioning of Kerry's medal-winning service in the Vietnam War - allegations that he strongly condemned this week as lies - were taking a political toll.

One poll found that more than half the voters questioned had seen or heard of an ad by Swift Boat Veterans For Truth that accused Kerry of lying about events that earned him five medals a generation ago. The University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey also found that 44 percent of self-described independent voters found the ad at least somewhat believable.

Separately, a CBS poll found a sharp drop in Kerry's support among veterans since the end of the Democratic National Convention that highlighted his war record.

Polls after the convention indicated Kerry had made considerable progress toward the campaign's goal of establishing him as a battle-tested veteran ready to assume command in an era of terrorism. Several veterans who served with him have campaigned alongside him, strongly supporting his combat record and calling him a hero.

In a new commercial that officials said was filmed Thursday, the Democratic Party showed retired Air Force Gen. Merrill A. McPeak saying he had endorsed President Bush four years ago but was backing Kerry now.

"Nothing is more important to me than protecting America,'' says McPeak, a fighter pilot in Vietnam who rose to become Air Force chief of staff during the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. "John Kerry has the strength and common sense we need in a commander in chief.''

What They're Saying

"We have a guy who started out fabricating us as war criminals, fabricating even himself as war criminals. He has now moved on to fabricating himself as a war hero."
-- John O'Neill, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

"[Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is] a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know. He wants them to do his dirty work.''-- John Kerry

"That charge leveled by Senator Kerry is absolutely and completely false. The Bush campaign has never and will never question John Kerry's service in Vietnam."
-- Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt

AFP/Getty

"Senator Kerry is justifiably proud of his record in Vietnam, and he should be."-- President Bush

"Of course, the president keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that. Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: 'Bring it on.'" -- John Kerry

Sources: ABCNews.com, AP, Reuters

That message is sharply at odds with the image portrayed in the anti-Kerry ad that the nominee denounced Thursday when he said Bush was relying on front groups to "do his dirty work.''

"I do think that Senator Kerry losing his cool should not be an excuse for him to lash out at the president with false and baseless attacks,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters in Crawford, Texas, on Friday.

"We've already said we weren't involved in any way in these ads,'' he said. "We've made that clear.''

Kerry's campaign then trumpeted a political flier from Florida advertising a "pro-USA political rally'' that appeared to show the veterans' group and the local Bush-Cheney campaign as sponsors.

Campaigns often file complaints with the FEC, but the commission rarely intervenes quickly enough to alter the course of a race.

Records show that Bob Perry, a Houston homebuilder who is helping to finance the anti-Kerry commercials, was well-enough known to Bush to earn an invitation to visit the then-Texas governor.

"I hope all goes well with you,'' Bush said in an April 15, 1997, letter. "Should you ever come to Austin, please come by and say hello.''

Bush wrote in response to a letter asking him to veto legislation that would have placed new restrictions on title companies if it made it out of the Legislature.

08-21-04 06:42 EDT

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

They gotta prove that

It is lies. I believe BUSH/CHENEY because they are both business men. Unlike JOHN/JOHN who are bottom feeder scum sucking lawyers and they are proud of it. All dumbocrats are retards and mentally deficents.

Vets are pissed at Kerry

Some veterans still bitter at talk of crimes
Senator's activism made a lasting impressionBy Josh White and Brian Faler

Updated: 12:02 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2004WASHINGTON - William Ferris was confined to a bed in a military hospital, his severed sciatic nerve reminding him of the attack on his Navy Swift boat in a Vietnam river. A shot from a recoilless rifle had pierced the boat's pilothouse and then Ferris's body, leaving him in constant agony.

But it was what appeared on Ferris's television that really pained him. John F. Kerry, a decorated fellow Swift boat driver, was testifying before Congress about atrocities in Vietnam, throwing his medals away, speaking at antiwar rallies. Ferris, who was trying to rehabilitate himself back to active duty, felt betrayed.

"I was livid," Ferris, 57, of Long Island, N.Y., said yesterday, recalling how his dislike for the presidential candidate began in the early 1970s. "I said to myself at the time, this is someone who is using his experience for his own purposes, and this was long before he ever ran for office. I thought he was using, actually manipulating, what he had done in Vietnam. Just like he's doing now."

 Kerry says group is a front for Bush

Ferris is one of 250 Swift boat veterans who in May signed an open letter to the Massachusetts senator asking for full disclosure of his military records, specifically focusing on events during a four-month tour in Vietnam for which Kerry was awarded medals for bravery in combat. The veterans group -- Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- has criticized Kerry for using his military experience as a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, arguing that the Democrat has exaggerated his experiences at war for political gain.

"I thought he was just another hot dog just trying to build his reputation," said Wayland Holloway of Searcy, Ark., who says he crossed paths with Kerry in 1969, one day before the future presidential candidate pulled Jim Rassmann from a river. "The first time I met John Kerry, frankly, I thought he was a very disingenuous person."

But while the group appears to be rooted in Republican politics and big money, several veterans who signed the letter said in interviews yesterday that they are casually into politics and generally are not convinced that Kerry is lying, but they do not like the candidate because of his polarizing speeches in the 1970s.

Deeply hurt
James Zumwalt, who attended the group's first news conference in May, said he joined the group solely to the set the record straight about the allegations of war crimes included in "Tour of Duty," a Douglas Brinkley book about Kerry's Vietnam service. Now, Zumwalt says, "I kind of have mixed feelings" about the tone of the group's attacks. "I would not try to question the awards given to him or his service."

Many of the veterans, scattered across the country, learned about the anti-Kerry group through friends, at reunions for Swift boat vets or on the Internet, and most have limited their involvement to signing the single letter to Kerry. Some say they voted for Al Gore in the last election but are still deeply hurt by what Kerry did when he returned from battle.

Kenneth Knipple of Erie, Mich., who served three years in Vietnam, backed Gore in 2000 but joined the anti-Kerry movement after leaning about it from a fellow vet. "For him to be wounded that many times and lie as many times as he did, I don't want him to be president," said Knipple, who served on Swift boats, but never with Kerry.

"I wasn't there at the time that happened," said Tony Gisclair, a veteran from Poplarville, Miss., who signed the letter, referring to Kerry's combat in Vietnam. "But look at what the man said about us when he came back."

Tony Snesko, a veteran in Washington, D.C., said he was "devastated" by Kerry's antiwar efforts, prompting him to sign on to the group's anti-Kerry message.

Snesko said to see Kerry elected would give credence to the senator's claims that those who fought in Vietnam were reckless baby-killers: "At the point that he might possibly take over this country as president -- it would validate everything that he said about us and would make it appear true."

The effort has gained momentum in the past month, as the veterans group began airing a controversial television commercial questioning Kerry's version of his service and asking him to disclose his military records. The Kerry camp has been attacking Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, calling it a front for President Bush's reelection efforts.

'He's lying'
The May 4 letter arose out of a broader effort coordinated by a longtime Kerry foe and Republican supporter, Texas lawyer John E. O'Neill, also a Swift boat veteran. At the behest of the Nixon White House in 1971, O'Neill debated Kerry on television about the war.

O'Neill, who co-wrote "Unfit for Command," an anti-Kerry book published this week, gathered other Swift boat veterans to start the group and allowed word to spread. The group's core membership -- which has met three times and has had several conference calls -- includes a seven-member steering committee and about 10 other members.

"We really got this thing going in the hopes the Democratic Party would listen to us and perhaps nominate someone else," said Bill Lannom of Grinnell, Iowa, whom O'Neill recruited onto the steering committee. Lannom bristles at the thought of Kerry being elected to the presidency. "He's lying, and he's betraying us," Lannom said. "He's telling untruths about us and his character. He's talking about atrocities that didn't happen. And then he's using that same experience to promote himself. He can't have it both ways."

Unlike casual participants, the most committed members say they are driven by desire to expose Kerry as a fraud who doctored his record to win medals and an early release from Vietnam. But they are a minority in the larger group.

John L. Kipp of Brown County, Ind., said he learned about the letter to Kerry while surfing the Web and added his signature because he does not believe that Kerry is telling the whole truth. Kipp, who commanded a Swift boat in Vietnam, doubts that Kerry would have left his boat to attack an enemy, as he claims. "It really bothered me when he started to ballyhoo his war record," said Kipp, 62. "You don't turn on your comrades and say these terrible, awful things that I know I had never seen. There's something about keeping faith with those you served with."

Don Hammer, a veteran from Bloomington, Ill., said he admires Kerry. Hammer also said he believes Kerry was within his rights to speak out against the war. But still, Hammer has questions. "My goal is to tell Mr. Kerry to open up his service record," he said. "I don't know what happened. Nobody else knows what happened."

Staff writer Jim VandeHei and research editor Margot Williams contributed to this report.

Re: Kerry can't prove his case. BAWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

DEAR SWIFT BOAT F***HEADS AND TRUE BELIEVERS,
Here's what John Kerry's documented service record looks like for his tours in Vietnam...from the "employment of command" portion of his FITREPs aboard USS Gridley (DLG-21) for the periods:
8 June 67 to 31 August 67 (he reported aboard 8 June): LV(leave)/UPK (Upkeep)/RAV in Long Beach (LBCH)

Then after a school in the states, he went to the Swift Boats, where his CO, LCDR George Elliot wrote the following comments in his FITREPS:
"In a combat environment often requiring independant, decisive action LTJG Kerry was unsurpassed. He consistently reviewed tactics and lessons learned in river operations and applied his experience at every opportunity. On one occaision while in tactical command of a three boat operation his units were taken under fire from ambush. LTJG Kerry rapidly assessed the situation and ordered his units to turn directly into the ambush. This decision resulted in routing the attackers with several enemy KIA.
LTJG Kerry emerges as the acknowledged leader in his peer group. His bearing and appearance are above reproach. He has of his own volition learned the Vietnamese language and is instrumental in the successful Vietnamese training program.
During the period of this report LTJG Kerry has been awarded the Silver Star medal, the Bronze Star medal, the Purple Heart medal (2nd and 3rd awards).
The next FITREP from a different reporting senior (whose name is illegible) but was signed concurrently by LCDR Elliott says:
"LTJG Kerry was assigned to this division for only a short time but during that time exhibited all the traits desired of an officer in a combat environment. He frequently exhibited a high sense of imagination and judgment in planning operations against the enemy in the Mekong Delta. Involved in several enemy initiated fire fights, including an ambush during the Christmas truce, he effectively suppressed enemy fire and is unofficially credited with 20 enemy killed in action. Though relatively new to the PCF he is thoroughly knowledgeable of all aspects of his boat and PCF operations. He was instrumental in planning of highly successful Sea Lords Operations. He was cited for his performance during action against the enemy by Commander Task Force in his message 080807Z Jan 69."
Contrast that to one of the few fitness reports available for Fearless Leader: LT Bush has not been observed at this unit during the period of this report. A civilian occupation made it necessary for him to move to Montgomery, Alabama. He cleared this base on 15 May 1972 and has been performing equivalent training in a non-flying status with the 187 TAC Recon Gp, Dannely ANG Base, Alabama.

When the AF selection board wanted to know WTF was going on there, MAJ Rufus Martin sent a reply:
Not rated for period 1 May 72 throught 30 Apr 73.
Report not available for administrative reasons.
I never noticed before that the request came from the AF Selections Board Branch. No wonder Preznit First Looey Fup couldn't get promoted...the selection board saw he was a no-load right away and wouldn't make him a Captain...smart people.One thing for sure at least Kerry showed up for the war instead of hiding out in Alabama.

John, That is not his service record, it is only an synopsis of what he wants you to know. It is very well known that John Kerry does not want to release his full military records which any vet will know includes your medical history.

If Kerry is so upset about these new commercials coming out and they really are false why doesn't he sue for Slander? why? because in a trial the truth will have to be presented and opended for public scrutiny. Makes you sort of wonder, doesn't it?

Originally posted by acmanko No it doesn't. what makes me wonder is why you Idiots like Bush reaming your rear day in and day out and smiling about it.

You are confused. Have you considered therapy?

I don't need any professional to tell me Bush is screwing things up.

Your avoiding the question acmanko. Why won't Kerry release his full military records? Or for that matter run on his senate record? The guy hides behind a wall of unknowns and what if's.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.